Back in the Saddle Again!

Yes, it's been almost a year since I last published here. Life has been very busy and a few things have changed. I haven't been following a vegan diet for some time now. It was a gradual change that started with including other foods back into my diet. So you won't find any new vegan info here. I won't remove my old posts because it's been part of the journey. In other news, my husband has just been diagnosed as having celiac disease, so we are diving into the whole gluten free thing. It's a lot of information to digest, but I'm so happy that he finally knows what has been causing problems for him. He's starting to feel much better after eliminating gluten. My kids and I are not completely gluten free, but we've greatly reduced our gluten intake too. It takes a lot of label reading for sure. The reason I decided to post again is that I read an email from Fly Lady last week that said "As the kitchen goes, so goes the rest of the house." And I decided it was time to get back to actually trying to get organized. So, I started tonight by shining my sink. It looks pretty good. Don't worry, I won't post a picture of it. Getting the sink shined is a small step, but it feels like I might be headed in the right direction. I'm trying not to dive in too deep because I start hard and then fizzle out. Instead, I'm just going to try to set up some habits and keep doing them over and over again. I've also been working on my fitness for awhile. I'm doing Online Boot Camp with Jonathan Roche. The biggest thing I've been learning is that fitness is a mental challenge. Being positive and having a positive mind set helps me so much. I'm feeling better and have more energy. The weight is taking a while, but I'm feeling good about it. I'm OK if the weight comes off slowly as long as it comes off and stays off. And that's my update for now. Hopefully you will hear more from me in the near future.

Getting Fitter & Healthier with Weight Watchers and FitBit!

Can't believe it has been so long since I updated!  Spent the fall getting used to my sleep apnea diagnosis and trying to get into a healthier sleep pattern, then ended up with a slipped disc in the new year and was off work for 9 weeks.  It was very painful, and I have a new understanding of what chronic pain is like.  Thankfully, it healed up on its own, no surgery needed this time.

Between the sleep apnea and spending a lot of time off my feet resting, my weight shot up again.  When you get to the point that your fat pants no longer fit, you know it's time to do something, so I did.  I signed up for Weight Watchers again.  I had great success with it when I did it 8 years ago, but I changed work schedules and wasn't able to track my meals online as easily.  Now, I can use my iPhone to update my points in the App and it is soooo easy!  My mom has also had great success with WW.  She lost 30 pounds and has kept it off.  I could tell she just felt better, so when I told her I signed up again, she was my biggest cheerleader. 

So, I've been doing WW for about 8 weeks now.  I'm down almost 12 pounds.  I feel better, have some more energy, and I'm enjoying watching my body change slowly.  Finding dips in my body where it was rounded before is so much fun!  I still have a ways to go before I get back to my original starting weight 8 years ago, but I'm just so happy to see it coming off.  My weight kept going up, and I was beginning to think that it just always would.  I'm glad I finally decided to do something.

I've been having fun getting activity points.  I like having the buffer of extra points in case I go over on my weekly points.  I don't usually end up using all of them, but it's fun to earn them.  I never thought I'd be one to say that!  My company gave each employee a FitBit last year.  I finally got mine in March when I got back to work.  I love my FitBit!  I obsessively check it to see how close I am to my daily goal of 10,000 steps.  I just passed my 250K lifetime achievement this week.  I never thought I would walk that much.  I'm fitting more exercise in by pacing in front of the television some nights to get me closer to my step goal.  I'm also trying to get out walking with the kids after dinner.  They ride their bikes, and I try to keep up. 

The FitBit also tracks my sleep when I remember to put it in sleep mode.  This helps me to see how much sleep I'm actually getting so I can see how I'm doing with the sleep apnea as well.  I plan on writing another entry on the FitBit, so check back soon!

I finally feel like I'm headed in the right direction.  I see progress.  I am getting there!